Whether you’re buying or selling a business, having a broker on your side can make the difference between a successful outcome and a nightmare. However, not all business brokers will be suitable for your specific situation. Use the tips below to choose the right broker for your needs.

Start by asking for referrals from your inner circle of business advisers and colleagues. Have any used a business broker in the past? Were they satisfied? Does the broker handle the type of transaction you have in mind?

You may need to widen your net to find a pool of qualified business brokers that specialize in brokering deals such as yours. Once you have several potential brokers, it’s time to get down to business and narrow the field down. Below are several key factors to consider:

– Is the individual or firm professional? Professionalism shows in numerous ways including personal appearance, the presentation of marketing materials, website, language, mannerisms, and expertise. Use both objectivity and your gut instinct. Remember, the broker you choose will be representing your business so make sure you’re fully comfortable with the person and firm you choose.

– Does the broker have experience working with businesses like yours? While it’s not necessary for the business broker to have specific experience in your exact niche, it’s helpful for the broker to understand the nature of your business and have experience brokering deals with similar characteristics. For example, if you run a family-owned microbrewery, a broker with a successful track record brokering deals for small wineries, family-owned specialty food manufacturers, or small brewpubs may not know the finer points of brewing beers but could be an excellent choice thanks to experience with similar businesses.

– What qualifications does the broker have? Look for licensing, education, certification, experience, and membership in professional associations.

– Is the broker well prepared? In other words, did the business broker do his or her research prior to your initial meeting? Brokers use comparable sales, business and industry reports, and other tools to price businesses. Your business broker should be able to support any suggested listing prices, which should be presented in writing, with documentation.

– If you are selling your business, find out how the broker intends to market your business. Brokers have many marketing tools available to market their business listings. However, some prefer to use specific marketing techniques over others. Make sure to ask the broker to present a detailed marketing plan.

– What type of businesses does the broker work with? For example, if your business has annual revenues in the $50 million range, you’ll need a special type of buyer making it important to choose a business broker capable of attracting those high net worth individuals and investors.

Just a few short years ago anyone moving to online trading had either to learn HTML or appoint a professional.

Nowadays getting online has moved from being too difficult for IT amateurs to being too easy. It is not an exaggeration to say that an entrepreneur waking up at eight in the morning could, with a bare minimum of expenditure, have an online presence of sorts by twelve.

And here lies the problem.

A website is no more than a virtual store-front. An eBusiness is a business like any other. Behind that store front there needs to be a delivery process, the goods or services to be marketed through that store front, and an infrastructure to make everything work efficiently and profitably.

Even if you are only moving an existing you need a credible Business Case
.
The business case describes your reasons for going online: indeed going into business in the first place.

It has to be ‘outputs orientated’ ie it says ‘we will provide this product or that service’ rather than ‘we will use this or that resource’;

It has to explain how you will respond to the market, how you will control your Business Risk.

How it fits with the rest of your business (if any);

How you will track the costs (time and money) and how and when you will measure the results

Your business case must be transparent and comprehensive – not an exercise in self-delusion or self-justification, and if it has significant technical content it has to be comprehensible.

Moving an existing business onto the net is one thing, starting a new business targeting an online clientele is quite another.

The ease and speed with which a new commercial site can be set up from scratch disguises the fact that an online business is just that: a business that trades online. All the disciplines that need to be followed when setting up a bricks-and-mortar business are equally relevant when setting up an online one.

Once you have an acceptable business plan in place the time comes to decide between:

The ‘nerd’s’ approach of building as site from scratch

Using a web designer

Opening an account with one of the many providers of commercial sites

Using a CMS to build an online community site.

Here on New2Business.com we do not deal with the first two options, valid though they are.

We do however suggest that the new online entrepreneur consider options 3 and 4 seriously. Both are simple enough for a non-it-specialist to be able to get up and running in a few days once the various options within your choice have been explored. A search of the internet will provide alternatives enough, and whichever way you go there are a couple of really critical questions to ask of the package you eventually choose:

What will your site look like

On a lap or desk top

On a smart-phone

On a tablet.

How will it interface with, or provide

Your accounting package

Your order management software.

When you’re considering a CMS system you’ll have to consider the additional modules available with the core software to make that assessment.

In most cases the decision will focus on one of the commercial providers though a CMS may be more suitable for:

A niche marketer

Clubs and associations

Some professional service providers.

In any case going online is not a simple yes/no decision. Many factors come into play and a few hours researching the options can be time well spent.

Just as an aside there is a natural compromise to be made between ‘user friendliness’ and the capacities of a package. Easy at the onset can mean limited at a later stage!

One of the great things about utilising Business to business direct marketing strategies is the money. You make more of it, it’s that simple. And you get to track every single cent so you know exactly how much each new customer is costing you and how much money you’ll eventually make. So it’s all good.

But there’s something else about this kind of marketing that’s really cool. And that is, you get to choose who you do business with.

Yes, you have a choice.

You can get highly qualified leads seeking you out, instead of rushing around trying to drum up business. And when prospects are attracted to you like this, it positions you and your product or service in a powerful way. Your marketing positions you as the best and your leads are pre-disposed to doing business with you. Done right, your prospects sell themselves on you. This gives you the freedom of doing business on your own terms with your own agenda.

And I’ll talk more about this attraction marketing in coming months.

But understand one thing. It’s your business. You get to make the rules. And you get to choose who you do business with.

These days, I set up strict guidelines with my clients so they know from day one how I do business. Those who do not wish to play by my rules are replaced with better clients.

The point is, people treat you how you treat yourself. I demand respect from my clients and in return they get my very best work. It’s not a democracy, it’s Pete’s world, no one else’s, and I make the rules.

It should be the same in your business. Don’t put up with tight-fisted customers, go out and attract those customers who are happy to give you the money. There are plenty out there. And by using our kinda marketing they’re easy to find. Life is far too short to put up with poisonous people… get rid of them and move on.